Days That will Never Return
by Laughing Princess
Summary: Oneshot. Sakura never wanted it to be this way. In which Sasuke is attacking the village, Naruto's gone, and she's left behind. "Let's do it right next time."


**All right, my fourth SasuSaku oneshot!**

**Reviews appreciated; I'd like to know what you think of my writing style, and comments in general!**

**Thanks! Enjoy! ^_^**

* * *

"_If there's a future…_

_We want it now."_

-Paramore, Song: Now

* * *

Sakura couldn't believe what was happening around her. The entire village was up in flames, buildings crashing into the ground as civilians screamed, most of them being evacuated by some Genin and Chunin shinobi.

She took a shaky breath and mentally steeled herself. She had always known that this battle had been coming, ever since that day she'd seen him standing above the crater with Orochimaru and Kabuto beside him. He had looked impassive back then, but Sakura had been able to see the growing hatred in Sasuke's eyes.

And now, Sasuke's hatred had consumed him, just like she had always feared.

She had ran back to her house, wanting to make sure that her parents had been safely evacuated along with the rest of the civilians of the city. When she fanned out her chakra throughout the village and did not sense them, she was positive that they were all right.

She let out a breath. Her parents were probably freaking out at the moment, hoping that she would go ahead and make her way back to them instead of join the fighting. But Sakura knew that when she had signed up to be a shinobi, she had to take many risks.

Fighting against her crush, though, was something she'd never thought of back then when she had joined the Shinobi Academy. At that time, all she had wanted was to become an amazing kunoichi that protected people.

Another building that was being licked by black flames fell to the ground, and Sakura's eyes widened as they began to spread. Water-Type shinobi ran up and tried to put the flames out, but nothing worked.

Sakura scowled. Sasuke was nearby.

She quickly ran through the Leaf Village, heading towards the area where Sasuke's chakra was. Tenten, Neji, Ino, and Shikamaru wordlessly ran beside her, heading towards a certain Uchiha.

_I'm about to see you again, Naruto,_ Sakura thought as she reached behind her and pulled out her sharp katana; it was so clean and clear, like a mirror, that she could see the reflection of her green eyes stare back at her. As she turned her gaze away from it, though, she thought she saw bright cerulean blue eyes gaze back at her sadly. _Don't pity me, Naruto. I'm going to take Sasuke down with me._

Naruto was gone. For a year now, actually, and at the hands of Sasuke himself. Even now Sakura thought that Naruto had allowed an opening for Sasuke—because, really, Naruto wouldn't die so easily, right? Naruto had allowed himself to get hit, but...why?

After Naruto passed on—Sakura refused to even think the word 'died'—Sakura had been an absolute mess. She didn't talk with her friends as much as she had. She didn't care about fashion as much as she used to. And she didn't even care about going on missions as much as she did in the past. All she cared about was studying a Time-Reverse Jutsu, a Forbidden Jutsu that was kept deep below a bunch of other books within the Hokage Tower.

In the end, though, Sakura's research had been in vain. Time would only go back at the cost of the user's life, so Sakura wouldn't have been able to meet with Naruto again. Not in the past, anyway, and there was no way Sakura would make such a selfish request from another person.

Which led to Sakura wait impatiently for Sasuke to attack the village. She had been waiting for this day for _months_, just so that she could finish him off.

A pang of disgust hit Sakura squarely in the chest, though, when she finally came to a stop and locked eyes with her old teammate. Even now, her treacherous feelings loved him.

She despised herself.

_I'll make everything right,_ she told herself. She closed her eyes. _Mom, Dad…please forgive me._

"Sakura," Sasuke greeted; his expression was blank. "Why didn't you evacuate?" his voice almost sounded plaintive.

"This is Naruto's home," Sakura replied, her voice brittle. "I'm going to protect it as well as I can. I'm going to defeat you, Sasuke."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "You tried to kill me in the past, but you failed. Have your feelings for me changed during that short timespan?"

"You aren't the same Sasuke I once loved," Sakura said, raising her kunai in front of her as she crouched into a defensive position. "You took away my best friend, Uchiha. Now I'm going to take you down, and make Team 7 reunite for real."

Sasuke stiffened before he snorted. "Tch. You're still weak, Sakura. You don't have a chance of defeating me."

"We'll see." Sakura closed her eyes; at once an image of Naruto's sad face hit her, and she shook it out of her head. No. Even if Naruto didn't approve of what she was about to do, it didn't matter. She wanted to see him again. She wanted to see the real Sasuke again. All of her hopes and dreams were in the past, trapped in photographs along her wall.

"Team Seven will be together again," Sakura whispered.

"We'll help," Tenten said, stepping forward. The three other shinobi nodded their heads at Sakura, and the pinkette smiled at them gratefully.

"Thanks, but…I'd like it if you all just stayed on the sidelines. This is between Sasuke and me." She bowed her head to them. "Please understand."

Neji opened his mouth, about to say something, but Shikamaru interrupted.

"We'll help you if you get wounded," Shikamaru said, glancing at Ino and the others before he locked his eyes with Sakura's. "However, we will step in to help if we see it needed."

Sakura felt tears in her eyes, but she pushed them back. "Thank you, everyone."

And she turned to face Sasuke.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura stood apart from one another, both of them staring each other down. And then Sasuke's eyes widened a small fraction, and Sakura knew what he was going to do before he even started.

At once the two shinobi were running at each other, both of them wielding their swords.

CLINK!

CLANG!

The sound of their swords hitting one another echoed throughout the Leaf Village, and Sakura immediately whirled around, blocking the katana that would have bitten her shoulder if she hadn't moved fast enough. When they reached a deadlock, Sakura wasted no time; she raised her foot and did a side-kick, using her insane strength to kick Sasuke squarely in the chest. She felt a wave of pleasure overcome her; she had heard the unmistakable sound of ribs breaking.

Sasuke put a hand over the area she had kicked, wheezing slightly as his head snapped up. He glared at her; his eyes eased into the Sharingan.

"Oh, so you're finally taking me seriously, huh?" Sakura mocked. "Good. You'll need all the help you can get."

Sasuke growled and ran at her; his movements were so fast that Sakura couldn't see. But she could _feel,_ though. Her reflexes had always been great; now they were being fully tested by Sasuke's anger.

Sasuke shouted as he brought his fist down; there was no time to dodge it, so Sakura hurriedly made sure that she'd get a good hit in before she felt the pain. The very moment his fist made contact with her left side of her face was they very moment her foot kicked him on his left arm. Once again she heard a sickening sound of a _crack!_

Sakura flew backwards a few yards, groaning as a rush of dizziness overran her. Regardless, though, she got back to her feet, her face aching with pain before she put her hand over it and healed the wound, numbing the pain. She smirked as Sasuke glared at her. "Being a medic has its perks, eh, Sasuke?"

"You're stronger than I thought," he said. "It was wrong for me to underestimate you."

"And you're weaker than I thought," she snarked. "It was wrong for me to _overestimate_ you."

His eyes narrowed. "Get ready. You're about to reunite with Naruto."

Thunder suddenly cracked; lightning flashed. At once it began to rain heavily down on them.

_Perfect for my last battle,_ Sakura thought. _I couldn't have choreographed this better any other way. Naruto, are you crying?_

She let out a deep breath. There were cuts along her arms, and blood was seeping out slowly. Sasuke fared no better; with his broken bones, he would be having a hard time. This was the endgame of their fight, and they both knew it.

"Ever since you took Naruto away from me, I've prepared myself to be reunited with Naruto," Sakura said, her katana held out in front of her.

"If you _did_ kill me, what would you do, after our battle was over?" Sasuke asked, though he sounded sincerely curious.

Sakura closed her eyes briefly. She had thought about this many times. She knew what her answer was, and it flew out of her mouth easily. "This battle will be my last."

"I see." Sasuke stared at her before he shook her head. "Then you're a fool, Sakura."

The two ran at each other, both screaming as they ran towards each other. Sasuke's focused gaze locked with Sakura's, and in that instant, she had flashbacks of all the good times she had had—the good times she had always taken for granted:

Celebrating her birthday with her parents and Naruto—Naruto, who loved being included on that day.

Laughing with Tsunade over Shikamaru's laziness.

Playing chess with Shikamaru, and the thrill of triumph she'd felt after she had managed to beat him _one_ time.

Rolling her eyes at Ino's antics as they dressed up for a party, and admiring Ino's kind heart and beauty. _Shikamaru's gonna be lucky to have her._

Sasuke, when they were younger, encouraging her as she doubted herself before the Chunin Exams.

Her parents, beaming at her as she told them about how Naruto and she were so close to getting Sasuke back.

Naruto, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as he asked her for love advice regarding Hinata Hyuuga.

And then, a picture of what could've been appeared in front of Sakura: A simple photograph of Sasuke, Naruto, Sai, Kakashi, and herself, all of them beaming at the camera with their arms wrapped around one another.

All those memories, and many more, flashed in Sakura's eyes, and she knew that this was it. Briefly she wondered if Sasuke was experiencing the same thing she was.

And then, before their swords clashed, Sasuke flash-stepped behind her. Sakura felt the blade go through her stomach, but she wasted no time. She turned her katana around and ran Sasuke through his stomach in return.

She didn't bother to glance back at him. She could already picture the look of surprise on his face.

"You allowed an opening," Sasuke grunted. "You…allowed me…to hit you…"

"My final attack," Sakura said, before she coughed violently. Blood was seeping through her clothes. Vaguely, she could hear Ino scream her name, but it sounded so very far away. She wondered briefly if it would be the last time she'd hear her childhood best friend's voice.

"Sakura…you…weren't…supposed to be here," Sasuke gulped. His voice was a mere whisper. "You were…supposed to be a normal…civilian. If you had…if you had been, you…would've…been safe. Happier."

"Sasuke, you should…know…that my days with…Naruto and you…as a _family…_were the happiest…I've had," Sakura managed to get out, before she coughed again. "I regret…nothing. I'm glad…I met…Naruto…and….you…"

Weakly the two of them took their swords out of one another, both of them collapsing at each other's side.

Sakura's vision was becoming blurry. She wasn't able to see anymore, and her hearing became faint. She knew her pulse was slowing down, but she wasn't afraid. She was going to see Naruto again. She mused idly about meeting Kushina and Minato, his parents.

She reached her hand out, seeking Sasuke's, and when she felt it, she grabbed onto it tightly. She wasn't sure if she was smiling, as she couldn't feel much at this point, but she was glad when the nerves in her hand at least could feel Sasuke's grip tighten around hers.

"Thank you, Sakura. Really," his voice croaked.

And she was gone.

* * *

And when Sakura woke up again, Naruto and Sasuke were both waiting for her, both looking at her with warmth in their eyes. Sakura's eyes widened and she hurried over to them, interlocking her hands with theirs firmly before they all walked forward together.

_Sasuke._

_Naruto._

_Let's do it right this time, okay?_

* * *

**The End.**

**Review please! I'd like to know your thoughts! I agree, it probably was a bit rushed, but this is a oneshot, so I figured...meh. Not that I tried to be sloppy or anything! **

**I hope you liked it!**

**This was a SasuSaku fic, for the record. Not at all shipping the Naruto and Sakura pairing. But I must admit I love their friendship. Naruto would be an awesome older-brother figure, I think.**

**Review!**


End file.
